Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.

²Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.

³When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”

⁴And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

⁵His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.

⁷Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.

⁸And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it.

⁹When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom

¹⁰and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”

¹¹This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

¹²After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.

¹³The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

¹⁴In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.

¹⁵And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.

¹⁶And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.”

¹⁷His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

¹⁸So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?”

¹⁹Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

²⁰The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”

²¹But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

²²When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

²³Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.

²⁴But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people

²⁵and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

¹“Now this is the commandment — the statutes and the rules — that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it,

²that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long.

³Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

⁴“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

⁵You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

⁶And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

⁷You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

⁸You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

⁹You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

¹⁰“And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you — with great and good cities that you did not build,

¹¹and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant — and when you eat and are full,

¹²then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

¹³It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.

¹⁴You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you —

¹⁵for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God — lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

¹⁶“You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.

¹⁷You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you.

¹⁸And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers

¹⁹by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has promised.

²⁰“When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?’

²¹then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

²²And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes.

²³And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers.

²⁴And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day.

²⁵And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.’

¹Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?

²Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.

³What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?

⁴By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”

⁵But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.)

⁶By no means! For then how could God judge the world?

⁷But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?

⁸And why not do evil that good may come? — as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

⁹What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,

¹⁰as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;

¹¹no one understands; no one seeks for God.

¹²All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

¹³“Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.”

¹⁴“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

¹⁵“Their feet are swift to shed blood;

¹⁶in their paths are ruin and misery,

¹⁷and the way of peace they have not known.”

¹⁸“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

²⁰For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

²¹But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it —

²²the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:

²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

²⁴and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

²⁵whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

²⁶It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

²⁷Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.

²⁸For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

²⁹Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,

³⁰since God is one — who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

³¹Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

¹So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

²Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation —

³if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

⁴As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,

⁵you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

⁶For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

⁷So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”

⁸and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

⁹But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

¹¹Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

¹²Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

¹³Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme,

¹⁴or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.

¹⁵For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

¹⁶Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

¹⁷Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

¹⁸Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.

¹⁹For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.

²⁰For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

²¹For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

²²He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.

²³When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

²⁴He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

²⁵For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

¹And Elihu answered and said:

²“Do you think this to be just? Do you say, ‘It is my right before God,’

³that you ask, ‘What advantage have I? How am I better off than if I had sinned?’

⁴I will answer you and your friends with you.

⁵Look at the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds, which are higher than you.

⁶If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?

⁷If you are righteous, what do you give to him? Or what does he receive from your hand?

⁸Your wickedness concerns a man like yourself, and your righteousness a son of man.

⁹“Because of the multitude of oppressions people cry out; they call for help because of the arm of the mighty.

¹⁰But none says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,

¹¹who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’

¹²There they cry out, but he does not answer, because of the pride of evil men.

¹³Surely God does not hear an empty cry, nor does the Almighty regard it.

¹⁴How much less when you say that you do not see him, that the case is before him, and you are waiting for him!

¹⁵And now, because his anger does not punish, and he does not take much note of transgression,

¹⁶Job opens his mouth in empty talk; he multiplies words without knowledge.”

¹I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

²I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

³When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence.

⁴For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.

⁵You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever.

⁶The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out; the very memory of them has perished.

⁷But the LORD sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice,

⁸and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness.

⁹The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

¹⁰And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.

¹¹Sing praises to the LORD, who sits enthroned in Zion! Tell among the peoples his deeds!

¹²For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

¹³Be gracious to me, O LORD! See my affliction from those who hate me, O you who lift me up from the gates of death,

¹⁴that I may recount all your praises, that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in your salvation.

¹⁵The nations have sunk in the pit that they made; in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.

¹⁶The LORD has made himself known; he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah

¹⁷The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God.

¹⁸For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.

¹⁹Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you!

²⁰Put them in fear, O LORD! Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah

¹Hear, O sons, a father's instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight,

²for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching.

³When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,

⁴he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live.

⁵Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.

⁶Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you.

⁷The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.

⁸Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her.

⁹She will place on your head a graceful garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”

¹⁰Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many.

¹¹I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness.

¹²When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble.

¹³Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life.

¹⁴Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil.

¹⁵Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on.

¹⁶For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.

¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.

¹⁹The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.

²⁰My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.

²¹Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart.

²²For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.

²³Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

²⁴Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you.

²⁵Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.

²⁶Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.

²⁷Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.

¹Benjamin fathered Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, Aharah the third,

²Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth.

³And Bela had sons: Addar, Gera, Abihud,

⁴Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah,

⁵Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram.

⁶These are the sons of Ehud (they were heads of fathers' houses of the inhabitants of Geba, and they were carried into exile to Manahath):

⁷Naaman, Ahijah, and Gera, that is, Heglam, who fathered Uzza and Ahihud.

⁸And Shaharaim fathered sons in the country of Moab after he had sent away Hushim and Baara his wives.

⁹He fathered sons by Hodesh his wife: Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam,

¹⁰Jeuz, Sachia, and Mirmah. These were his sons, heads of fathers' houses.

¹¹He also fathered sons by Hushim: Abitub and Elpaal.

¹²The sons of Elpaal: Eber, Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod with its towns,

¹³and Beriah and Shema (they were heads of fathers' houses of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who caused the inhabitants of Gath to flee);

¹⁴and Ahio, Shashak, and Jeremoth.

¹⁵Zebadiah, Arad, Eder,

¹⁶Michael, Ishpah, and Joha were sons of Beriah.

¹⁷Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber,

¹⁸Ishmerai, Izliah, and Jobab were the sons of Elpaal.

¹⁹Jakim, Zichri, Zabdi,

²⁰Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel,

²¹Adaiah, Beraiah, and Shimrath were the sons of Shimei.

²²Ishpan, Eber, Eliel,

²³Abdon, Zichri, Hanan,

²⁴Hananiah, Elam, Anthothijah,

²⁵Iphdeiah, and Penuel were the sons of Shashak.

²⁶Shamsherai, Shehariah, Athaliah,

²⁷Jaareshiah, Elijah, and Zichri were the sons of Jeroham.

²⁸These were the heads of fathers' houses, according to their generations, chief men. These lived in Jerusalem.

²⁹Jeiel the father of Gibeon lived in Gibeon, and the name of his wife was Maacah.

³⁰His firstborn son: Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab,

³¹Gedor, Ahio, Zecher,

³²and Mikloth (he fathered Shimeah). Now these also lived opposite their kinsmen in Jerusalem, with their kinsmen.

³³Ner was the father of Kish, Kish of Saul, Saul of Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab and Eshbaal;

³⁴and the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal; and Merib-baal was the father of Micah.

³⁵The sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Tarea, and Ahaz.

³⁶Ahaz fathered Jehoaddah, and Jehoaddah fathered Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri. Zimri fathered Moza.

³⁷Moza fathered Binea; Raphah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son.

³⁸Azel had six sons, and these are their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel.

³⁹The sons of Eshek his brother: Ulam his firstborn, Jeush the second, and Eliphelet the third.

⁴⁰The sons of Ulam were men who were mighty warriors, bowmen, having many sons and grandsons, 150. All these were Benjaminites.

¹“And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD.

²Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the enemy said of you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The ancient heights have become our possession,’

³therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Precisely because they made you desolate and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you became the talk and evil gossip of the people,

⁴therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD: Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains and the hills, the ravines and the valleys, the desolate wastes and the deserted cities, which have become a prey and derision to the rest of the nations all around,

⁵therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Surely I have spoken in my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave my land to themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, that they might make its pasturelands a prey.

⁶Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I have spoken in my jealous wrath, because you have suffered the reproach of the nations.

⁷Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I swear that the nations that are all around you shall themselves suffer reproach.

⁸“But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they will soon come home.

⁹For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown.

¹⁰And I will multiply people on you, the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt.

¹¹And I will multiply on you man and beast, and they shall multiply and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times, and will do more good to you than ever before. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

¹²I will let people walk on you, even my people Israel. And they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no longer bereave them of children.

¹³Thus says the Lord GOD: Because they say to you, ‘You devour people, and you bereave your nation of children,’

¹⁴therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Lord GOD.

¹⁵And I will not let you hear anymore the reproach of the nations, and you shall no longer bear the disgrace of the peoples and no longer cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord GOD.”

¹⁶The word of the LORD came to me:

¹⁷“Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their ways before me were like the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity.

¹⁸So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed in the land, for the idols with which they had defiled it.

¹⁹I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. In accordance with their ways and their deeds I judged them.

²⁰But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, and yet they had to go out of his land.’

²¹But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.

²²“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.

²³And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

²⁴I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.

²⁵I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

²⁶And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

²⁷And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

²⁸You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

²⁹And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you.

³⁰I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations.

³¹Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations.

³²It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.

³³“Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt.

³⁴And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by.

³⁵And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’

³⁶Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the LORD; I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it.

³⁷“Thus says the Lord GOD: This also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: to increase their people like a flock.

³⁸Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

¹And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples.

²And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

³And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John's baptism.”

⁴And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.”

⁵On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

⁶And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

⁷There were about twelve men in all.

⁸And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

⁹But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.

¹⁰This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

¹¹And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,

¹²so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.

¹³Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.”

¹⁴Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.

¹⁵But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?”

¹⁶And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

¹⁷And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled.

¹⁸Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices.

¹⁹And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.

²⁰So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

²¹Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”

²²And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

²³About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way.

²⁴For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen.

²⁵These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth.

²⁶And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods.

²⁷And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”

²⁸When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

²⁹So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's companions in travel.

³⁰But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him.

³¹And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater.

³²Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together.

³³Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd.

³⁴But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky?

³⁶Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash.

³⁷For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess.

³⁸If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another.

³⁹But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly.

⁴⁰For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.”

⁴¹And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.